MAD - Review of FMS Detective

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FMS - Total Access Detective 2000

Product Review

Overview
Total Access Detective 2000 documents the differences between any two objects in one database or objects across two databases. Differences in properties, controls, fields, indexes, macro lines and even module lines are all documented. Also, it can document data differences (new and modified records) between your tables.

In general, only properties of identically named items (e.g., fields, controls, macro names, procedures, etc.) are compared. For instance, properties of fields are compared based on field name, not field order. If an item exists in only one object, it is listed, but its properties are not listed as being different.

Installation
Installation was fast and easy. After I completed the installation from the CD, I went to their site to see if there were any updates. The update site for FMS is http://www.fmsinc.com/free/updates/index.html. Alas, there was an update dated 6/5/2001. The update file was 1.2 Meg and after I downloaded it, it took about one minute to install the update. The only concern that I have about the update is that I could not find any information about what the update fixed.

Getting Started
After I finished installing I decided to jump right in without reading the manual. Big Mistake. The installation software installed items on the Start Menu and on the Tools/Add-Ins menu of Access. Since I could not figure out how to proceed, I resorted to the User's Guide.

User's Guide
The software comes with a 79 page User's Guide. However, for all of its length, it was not that helpful. I would have to give it a B. They do a very good job of documenting Microsoft's bugs, but not such a good job documenting their software.

Apparently, when Access 2000 first came out it had some major bugs. But, they have been fixed in the version that I have. I am running SR-1.

Comparing Two Objects in One Database
To compare two objects in one database, select Total Access Detective 2000 from the Add-Ins menu. The Comparison Wizard will open. I am not sure why they call it a wizard, since it is a single dialog box. Next, you select the type of objects to list, and from the list you select the two objects to compare. If you select two table to compare you can choose to compare the data. If you select an object that has modules you can choose to compare the modules.

The results are very complete. Every difference between the objects is listed in a grid format. The following grid is the result of comparing two forms that are almost identical. As you can see, even very small differences, (e.g., square brackets) are noted.


Item	Property	Object 1	Object 2
Form Control [CategoryID]	RowSource	SELECT DISTINCT Categories.CategoryID, Categories.CategoryName FROM Categories ORDER BY [Categories].[CategoryName];	SELECT DISTINCT [Categories].[CategoryID], [Categories].[CategoryName] FROM Categories ORDER BY [Categories].[CategoryName];
Form Control [SupplierID]	RowSource	SELECT DISTINCT Suppliers.SupplierID, Suppliers.CompanyName FROM Suppliers ORDER BY [Suppliers].[CompanyName];	SELECT DISTINCT [Suppliers].[SupplierID], [Suppliers].[CompanyName] FROM Suppliers ORDER BY [Suppliers].[CompanyName];
Form Property	AllowFilters	True	False
Form Property	Caption	Products	Products New

Personally, I like the way that it compares modules. The following shows the results of comparing the modules of two almost identical forms.

Procedure ProductName_AfterUpdate
   Module: [Products]
    10: 

   Module: [Products_New]
    10:     MsgBox "Test"
    11:

As you can see it lists all of the lines that are different. What I like about how the product compares lines is that if it encounters a difference is it only documents the differences. The lines that follow in both modules are not considered different even though they are on different lines. Also, you can set the software to ignore indents. This option ignores spaces or lines at the beginnin of a line of code.

Comparing Two Databases